


Off Tempo

by tremordragon



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dancing on the Battlefield, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Inspired by Fanart, Jealousy, M/M, Somewhat anyway, The Author Attempts To Make Game Mechanics Not Sound Awkward In Text, namely more characters from other games have been added because I'm salt, takes place in the canon FEH-verse but with a few minor changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 07:19:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tremordragon/pseuds/tremordragon
Summary: Soren gets a dancer alt in FEH. Ike is more than OK with this, right up until it becomes clear that it includes Soren dancing sensually for other people on the battlefield.





	Off Tempo

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this a few days ago when I was supposed to be doing exam-related things, but, well, the idea was there and I got both it and the exam-related things out of the way so it all worked out in the end even if I wound up losing a lot of sleep in the process. Haven't written anything FE-related in a super long time so I'm probably rusty, but I promise I did my best.
> 
> Some stuff for context:
> 
> \- This takes place in a Zenith where every other banner isn’t centered around Fates+Awakening, other games get their proper due in the spotlight, and a couple more units from RD including Sage!Soren have been summoned.
> 
> \- Soren's outfit in here is inspired by a very nice pic someone over on tumblr drew of him as a dancer unit, though unfortunately I can no longer find the said pic...regardless, we'll say that some kind of new Performing Arts thing happened.
> 
> \- Though not particularly relevant to this story, the other three Performing Arts 2 or whatever it was Heroes were Nils, Ninian, and...idk, L’arachel.

When he was assigned to be part of an exercise in one of the grassier arenas of the Training Tower one bright morning, Ike thought nothing of it.

 

It wasn’t the first time it had happened, after all, and he doubted it would be the last.And anyway, it was better than sitting around and doing nothing for Goddess-only-knew-how-much-longer while so many other Heroes were busy helping to save Askr from its latest threat.Lately, the Tempest had appeared _yet again_ and Kiran had _yet again_ been busy working to make it go away.At some point along the way they had picked up a very young version of the Songstress Azura and apparently the Tempest’s reappearance was her fault somehow, and honestly it was a chore trying to keep track of everything.

 

As he waited for the training exercise to begin, fiddling with Urvan’s handle as he did so, Ike couldn’t help but snort at the memory of the very sheepish look on his older self’s face as he’d strode back into the castle a few days ago carrying the little girl, followed closely by Genny, Ninian, and the oddly spacey new version of Corrin who Kiran had summoned just a few days prior.The look on the older Soren’s face had also been priceless—his eye had twitched, even!

 

 _“Now, Soren,”_ older Ike had said, coming to a stop in front of the indignant sage, _“I know we haven’t talked about kids yet, but it’d mean a lot to me if you gave her a chance...”_ Then, as Soren’s face turned a very fascinating shade of red and everyone else snickered around them, he’d continued, just barely managing to keep the teasing smile off his face and his voice heavy with laughter, _“And besides, she’s got a windy tome just like you and blue hair like me!It’ll be just like the real thing.”_

 

Literally anyone else would have been blasted into oblivion by the sage’s True Rexcalibur tome for that, but as this was Ike, he’d gotten off easy with merely a glare and a demand to stop fooling around.

 

They teased each other like that, sometimes.Whatever relationship existed between them, the younger Ike was glad to see that it was just as strong as ever, though he couldn’t help but be annoyed at how secretive they were about it—and everything else, too.His older self wouldn’t tell either him or the other young Ike virtually anything to help prepare for whatever was coming next, and that included, apparently, how things would progress with Soren.

 

He could acknowledge what he _hoped_ would happen, but he knew himself well enough to know there was no way he was getting that information any time soon.Not unless there was some way to beat it out of his older self, which there wasn’t, and there was no way he was going to threaten any version of Soren to tell him anything.

 

He was actually kind of jealous—of the three versions of himself that had been dragged into this world by Kiran’s divine weapon (which was still a weird thing to get used to, knowing he wasn’t even the only one of him around), he was the only one of the three who, up until just recently, was more or less alone.Both his other selves had a version of Soren to help them ease the weirdness of having been summoned here to this strange world, and while he’d never begrudge either the happiness (how could he when technically they were also him?), it really wasn’t fair.  Why was _he_ the only one without a grumpy Branded mage to keep him company?!

 

Not long ago, however, Kiran had _finally_ managed to summon another Soren—one who, apparently, had been made to participate in some...festival or another, Ike didn’t know or care about the details, and had learned how to dance in order to rejuvenate his fellow fighters.Ike had yet to see him in action, as Kiran had quickly dragged him away to the lower levels of the Training Tower to make him “get good” (whatever in Ashera’s name that was supposed to mean), and unfortunately he hadn’t seen him since except at mealtimes.

 

In all fairness, he was more relaxed now than he’d been in a long time.It was nice to finally have his “own” Soren.Or so he hoped; he’d never _force_ Soren to stay with him, of course, but it wasn’t like the other boy had ever objected to being around him before...

 

He hoped they could talk properly soon.Maybe he’d start by getting Soren to rant about the festival he’d been forced to participate in, that was bound to be entertaining...

 

Finally the other team arrived, and much to Ike’s surprise, this new Soren was one of the four members.

 

Ike couldn’t help but smile a little; Soren had on his I-Am-Very-Annoyed Face and in one hand kept twirling one of the red roses he somehow managed to use as throwing knives in a nervous tic.The other hand kept going up to tug on the midriff-exposing sleeveless top he was wearing, else smoothing down the sash and skirt-like waistguard, or the white leggings beneath.A long, wide green ribbon looped behind him, brushing the ground behind his sandaled feet, its ends tied to the wide golden bracelets on both his wrists, and the lower half of his face was covered by a sheer veil not unlike the one worn by one of the Azuras who Kiran had summoned a very long time ago now.

 

He looked good.Better than good, actually.It was a look that suited him surprisingly well, at least in Ike’s _entirely_ unbiased opinion, and he drank the sight of it in contentedly, not even bothering to hide his staring.

 

Yeah, there would be no complaints from him if that outfit maybe stayed for a while.None at all.

 

Standing with Soren and waiting to get going were Niles, Ephraim (and his horse), and Chrom (and _his_ horse); presumably they would be his teammates in this exercise.While Ike chafed more than a bit at the thought of them being on opposite sides, this would still give him a chance to see how Soren was handling this whole...dancer thing.

 

(And also just how the hell a damn flower was supposed to be a good substitute for an actual knife; he’d _kill_ to hear the rant on that...)

 

Ike himself had been put on a team with Reinhardt, Maria, and the adult version of Tiki.Of these three, the only one he had experience fighting alongside was Tiki, who had jokingly become known as “The Wall” among the more lighthearted of those who lived in Askr Castle for her supposedly impenetrable physical defense.It was a good thing, Ike thought, that there were no magic users on the other team, as her magical resistance left some things to be desired, though obviously they’d still need to keep her away from Chrom’s Falchion.Ephraim might also give her some trouble.

 

This also put Ike himself as technically the only physical fighter on the team, he noticed.Not that Maria would be doing much fighting, but he knew from experience that that staff of hers could still hurt like hell when she wanted it to.Even with the other team’s somewhat low magical defenses, however, Soren would no doubt be taking over their strategy for the fight, which had a good chance of tipping the balance in their favor.Plus, he could dance to refresh his teammates’ stamina, which added a lot of unpredictability to the mix, whereas Ike’s team just had a healer.

 

Well, as team leader, he’d better get started on leading.

 

“Stay away from Chrom,” he said to Tiki, who smiled indulgently at him.As he spoke, he saw Kiran go up to the other team and speak with them, probably making sure they were all ready before they began the fight.“Reinhardt, you should take him down as soon as possible and then I’ll get you out of there before Ephraim comes after you.Maria, be on standby for any healing we need.”

 

“I shall handle Niles, then?” Tiki asked as the other two nodded their understanding.He nodded as well.

 

“He’s good against magical attacks, but you hit hard.If we play this right, you might be able to take him down on the first round and keep him from getting at the rest of us.”

 

“Perhaps,” Tiki murmured.“Very well.I shall do as you say.”

 

Ike thanked her, then his next train of thought was interrupted by Reinhardt asking, “And what of Soren?He, too, has high magical resistance and I’m not keen on being hit with those...roses of his.” He wrinkled his nose distastefully, making Maria laugh.

 

Honestly Ike had been hoping someone else would handle that part, as he wasn’t keen on the idea of hurting Soren even in training—never had been, and now was no different.Especially not when he was wearing an outfit like _that_.“If we’re careful,” he said instead of saying any of this, “we can use Maria’s Pain staff to bring him down so that you can safely go after him.Or I guess me or Tiki could handle him since he probably won’t be able to hurt her.”

 

“I suspect it would be quite different if he had a tome,” the mentioned manakete said cheerfully.“When Princess Veronica forcibly contracted his older self, I had the pleasure of being one of those who fought him, and I say, I didn’t know it was possible for Wind magic to hurt that much!Were it not for Ninian’s quick assistance, I would have been gone in an instant!”

 

Only a dragon would call a near-death-by-magic experience a “pleasure”, Ike thought privately, but there you had it.

 

Maria giggled again.“Maybe you can do what the big you did, Ike, and just carry him away!”

 

Both Reinhardt and Tiki snorted at the memory (one which Ike himself secretly treasured, of the older Soren draped over older Ike’s shoulder and howling, _“IKE, PUT ME DOWN AT ONCE!”_ as the taller man stomped off the battlefield and everyone else stared incredulously after them), but before either could comment, Kiran came bustling over to do her pre-battle check-in.

 

On the other side of the grassy field, the other team was deep in hurried last-minute conversation.Chrom appeared to be scolding an unrepentant Niles for something as Soren rubbed at his temples and Ephraim laughed.Ike idly wondered what had happened.

 

“Are we all ready to go?” the Summoner asked, worriedly checking over all four of them for any problems.“Weapons good?All up to date on each other’s abilities?Strategies?No last-minute bathroom breaks?”

 

“Did we _have_ to choose this particular arena?” Reinhardt grumbled, staring down his nose at her with disgruntlement.“Horses have trouble with bushes and trees, you know that, and this field has so many!”

 

“The other team has _two_ horses, don’t fret,” Kiran assured him, giving his equally annoyed horse an awkward pat on the nose.“And anyway, it’s good practice for terrain you’re not so used to!”

 

“As you say,” Reinhardt muttered, and flicked open his Dire Thunder tome with a sigh.

 

Kiran hurried off the field as the two teams faced each other.Then, at her signal, the fight began.

 

And it was alright.Normal.Each one moved cautiously, Ike directing his three teammates and Soren directing his own.It was a little slow, but that was how these things usually started.He was still getting the hang of leadership, but it was coming easier to him now that he had more experience.At least he had gotten better at not sending people to their very avoidable dooms.

 

And then _it_ happened.

 

Ike had been waiting to see Soren’s dance in action, curious to see what kind of moves the usually stern, introverted mage would use.Soren was, after all, rather fluid on the battlefield despite his rigidity off of it, often embellishing his spells with sharp twists and graceful movements that were more than a little distracting sometimes.

 

Unfortunately, Ike had forgotten to factor in a few key details of the situation.

 

Because this?

 

_This?_

 

He had sent Tiki around the hedges to bait the somewhat infamously eager-to-please Chrom out so that Reinhardt could swoop in, but apparently Soren anticipated this, because he sent Ephraim to meet her instead.And he did so by dancing for him to boost the Renais Prince’s speed and magical resistance, which, alright, was expected.He’d known it was going to happen, was even looking forward to seeing how it would happen.

 

But, well—

 

_He danced for him._

 

What was the word he was looking for?Older Soren had used it once, grumbling it out at Lene and telling her to be less of it on the battlefield lest she distract her teammates with it—uhhhh— _sensual_ , there it was!It was _sensual_.Which—wow, OK, Ike wasn’t going to complain.Even though he didn’t seem happy to be doing it (he had on his I-Would-Rather-Be-Literally-Anywhere-Else-Right-Now face), Soren still nonetheless managed to make it look _really good_.

 

Which was actually the problem.Because—

 

Was this allowed?That couldn’t be allowed, right?Of course it wasn’t, it couldn’t be, right?Moving your hips and legs and arms like that in public?

 

_And for someone that wasn’t him?!_

 

He hardly noticed when Tiki screeched with pain as Ephraim struck her hard with his lance, nor when Maria hurried up from behind to heal her, only coming back to himself as Reinhardt snapped, “ _Focus_ , boy!” at him.

 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then leveled a ferocious glare at Ephraim, who, being wrapped up in battling an angry dragon currently breathing some weird kind of magical fog at him, didn’t notice.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Soren frown at him, but ignored it to do some quick thinking.“Maria, use your staff on him,” he ordered the small girl, who nodded and did as she was told, nearly knocking Ephraim off his horse and singeing his armor.

 

As expected, the Pain staff’s latent effect activated, and Chrom and Niles, who were both within its range, suffered mild burns as well.

 

Ike’s sense of victory was short-lived, however, as Soren next decided to use this opportunity to get rid of Maria and remove the threat of her right away.As she was blocked by both the hedges and a lowly growling Tiki, this otherwise wouldn’t have been an immediate problem if not for Niles.

 

As the team had reminded themselves earlier, Niles had a rather impressive amount of magical resistance and used a bow, making him an effective mage-destroyer (and so not very popular with most of the mages residing in Askr Castle, much to the man’s own amusement).This unfortunately also made him the perfect person to take down healers like Maria, and, coupled with the effects of Soren’s dance, he was even more dangerous than ever.

 

Not that Ike was actually thinking about this except as a very faint echo in one corner of his mind.No, his attention was focused yet again on Soren _dancing_ , how good it looked and he knew he was probably being ridiculous, but still—and then felt a fresh spike of anger shoot through him when Niles winked at the mage-turned-dancer and cooed, “ _Such_ a tease~!”

 

“Just get over there!” Soren snapped, and was it just Ike, or were his cheeks above the veil kinda red?They weren’t, right?That didn’t mean he was flustered!Right?!

 

Maria’s high-pitched cry of pain as the first arrow hit her snapped him out of his angry haze for the second time, and as soon as she was done hitting Niles back (sadly not too effectively thanks to his naturally high speed and resistance to magic, which had both been boosted further by Soren’s dance; damned magical dances!), Ike quickly reached out and moved her behind himself where it was safer.He cursed when he saw the extent of her wounds, however; she’d have to sit the rest of the fight out.

 

There went his plans from earlier all up in smoke...damn it, Soren!He could practically hear both his other selves laughing at him.

 

His one consolation was that the Pain staff had also managed to singe Niles and Ephraim yet again, though this time Chrom escaped it.

 

Reinhardt moved in after that, taking down the still-winded Ephraim once and for all but unfortunately leaving Tiki now at risk of being attacked by Chrom, who was quickly coming up behind the fallen Renais Prince.

 

Ike would have to play this carefully if he wanted to win, which he was now absolutely determined to do.Oh, he’d win this, alright, if _anyone_ thought they were getting away with this then they were sorely mistaken—

 

Niles was almost in range, and so, with a hard shove from Reinhardt propelling him painfully through the bushes (remind him to cut them down later, because gods damn they actually _were_ really annoying), Ike swung his axe on the startled outlaw, whose reflexes were too late to save him, and sent him flying with perhaps _just_ a bit more force than he usually used or was necessary.

 

“Gods above, who pissed in _your_ porridge this morning?!” Niles wheezed from where he now lay spread-eagled on the grass, trying to get his breath back and blearily glaring up at the usually mild-mannered mercenary.Ike stared him down, raising a brow at the snarky words but feeling somewhat stupidly vindicated by having defeated him.He couldn’t help inwardly preening just a little.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Soren cock his head to the side in the way he often did when he had noticed something weird and was trying to decipher it as quick as possible.And then, the mage-turned-dancer’s eyes widened like he’d just realized something, followed by a devious smirk which not even the veil could hide and which vanished just as quickly as it had come.

 

But Ike had seen it, and he immediately knew from past experience that whatever was coming next was bound to be painful.That smirk never boded well for anyone who Soren called an enemy, and, the Goddess _smite_ his bad luck, but right now that list included Ike.Damnation!He wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of Soren’s deviousness!

 

“ _Soren,_ ” he warned loudly, trying to head it off.Unfortunately for him, his tactician visibly ignored him and plowed right on ahead with whatever he was planning.

 

“Oh, Prince Chrom!” Soren called out in a mockingly sweet voice, his red eyes fixed on Ike and his body language somehow both coy and innocent.Ike narrowed his eyes at him.“Please stay where you are; I’ll be right over to... _help_ you.”

 

Ike twitched; _Unbelievable!_

 

“Alright!” the Ylissean Prince called back cheerfully, in what Ike found to be entirely too eager a tone.

 

(In reality, Chrom was simply eager for his own turn to attack, ready to show off the progress he’d made learning to fight on horseback.That he was one of the few non-mages who stood a true chance of defeating the so-called “Wall of Askr” was another point he was eager to show off, and he noted with satisfaction that the said “Wall” was eyeing him distrustfully from behind the bushes.He’d have to go around them in a moment to get to her.

 

Not that Ike would have cared about any of this even if he’d known, admittedly.)

 

And so Ike watched, fuming, as Soren practically _flounced_ over to the Ylissean Prince and danced for him, finishing it off with a sardonic little quip (“Let’s just get this over with...”).

 

Chrom, now raring to go more than ever, advanced on Tiki with his sword held high.  Though she put up a fight and indeed managed to do a large amount of damage to him in return, in the end this tussle saw her painfully slinking off to where Maria, Niles, and Ephraim now watched from the sidelines, their wounds being tended to by some of the other healers.

 

Which just left two members of each team left.Reinhardt and Soren were both still completely unharmed, Chrom was panting with pain and looking the worse for wear from Tiki’s Foggy Breath or whatever it was called, and Ike himself had taken a mild amount of damage from the single arrow Niles had reflexively managed to fire his way before he’d struck him down.

 

Still, even with his judgment as clouded as it currently was, Ike could recognize the need to be careful.Axes were typically not the smartest weapon to use against swords, and Chrom was a dangerous opponent even when injured.Even Reinhardt was cautiously backing off lest he be caught in a desperate charge by the other rider.

 

They were going to win this, though.Ike was bound and determined, more so than he’d been about anything since being summoned to this world.

 

His eyes met Soren’s again, and he was annoyed to see them practically shining with mirth.Exactly _what_ was so damn funny here?Ike sure as hell didn’t see it!

 

“Soren—”

 

“Prince Chrom,” Soren called again, “retreat out of their range for the moment.I’ll be over to _help_ you again shortly.”

 

“B-be right there!” Chrom called back.

 

Oh, that did it!

 

By some incredible stroke of luck, however, the Goddess finally smiled upon Ike and Chrom was either too injured or too tired to realize that Ike could now reach him from where he’d just stationed himself, and accidentally put himself and his poor horse right in Ike’s path.And Ike had more than enough strength and anger-fueled adrenaline to pull off a clean knock-out.

 

Or rather, knock- _off_ , as in, knocking him right off his horse to hit the ground with a satisfying _thud!_

 

“ _I_ was supposed to do that,” he heard Reinhardt grouse behind him, but he paid the other man no mind, because he was too busy stepping over Chrom’s groaning form towards where Soren now looked quite a bit less sure of himself.

 

“Oh, Soren,” Ike sang, mimicking the other boy’s sweet tone from earlier, and grinned when he heard him curse.

 

“Don’t expect me to surrender so easily, Ike,” Soren snapped, brandishing one of his roses.It looked ridiculous, and Ike could tell Soren knew it, though he still shook the thing at him with all the severity of a schoolmaster scolding a badly-behaved pupil with a pointer stick.The mental image coupled with their general size difference made it extremely hard not to start laughing.“I’ll not hesitate to defend myself!”

 

“Soren, I think we both know a flower’s not going to do much here.”

 

“I will have you know that these flowers have already sent many a fool down below to their defeat,” Soren growled, retreating backwards as Ike continued to advance on him.

 

“By what, did you poke their eyes out with it?Scratch ‘em with the thorns?” Ike asked, grinning wider when Soren actually hissed at him, his cheeks visibly red above the veil.

 

It was rare that his tactician ever got annoyed with him.Occasionally it happened during strategy meetings when Ike suggested several not-so-smart ideas in a row or was too insistent on being lenient with an enemy for Soren’s liking.Either way, it was not a common occurrence for Soren to be like this with him.Usually he was just fine deferring to whatever Ike needed of him.

 

The only other time this ever seemed to happen was when Soren got particularly flustered by something Ike had done and was trying to keep it hidden.And although Ike was never quite sure exactly what he’d done to make it happen (but his older self had sort of implied one day he’d figure this stuff out?Great, but _when?_ ), he’d seen it enough times by now to be able to recognize it for what it was.He was practically giddy with the knowledge.

 

Soren was _flustered_.

 

And probably a little bit scared, seeing as how he was the only one of his teammates who had yet to be defeated, and Ike himself had rather...uhh, violently taken down two of the others.Ah.

 

Yeah, he supposed that’d intimidate just about anybody, never mind someone with physical defenses as admittedly frail as Soren’s were. (He maintained, however, that it’d been for a good cause.)

 

By now he’d managed to back Soren up to the side of the grassy arena, the other boy’s back pressed against the metal grates that fenced them in.Soren held his rose up, and, as a last-ditch effort, sent it flying at Ike with an alarming amount of force and accuracy.

 

Trust him of all people to turn a freaking _flower_ into a legitimate weapon—

 

Even this wasn’t enough to do more than make Ike stumble, however, and he kept moving forward.Soren’s hands moved in front of his chest in what Ike recognized as the start of a defensive curl, preparing to protect himself from the expected incoming blow though he still met his gaze head-on in a show of defiance that would have been convincing but for the subtle shaking of his limbs.

 

Except, that was never the intention, to hurt him.Even if for some reason he’d wanted to, there was no point in hurting Soren, especially not when he was all but defenseless—though Ike still kept a good eye on him, lest he try to stab him with another one of those damned roses.

 

And besides, earlier Maria had reminded him of a perfectly good alternative to finishing this the traditional way.

 

He slowly reached out, thankful when Soren didn’t flinch (even now he wasn’t afraid of him, oh, thank the Goddess for small mercies), and gripped his tactician’s left wrist firmly enough that he wouldn’t be able to get away but not so much as to hurt him.

 

“I win,” Ike told him, feeling very pleased with himself.

 

Soren blinked first at him, then at their hands, then back up with obvious confusion, and then let out a rather high-pitched yelp as Ike yanked him towards himself, draping the smaller boy’s midsection over his right shoulder and straightening up like that.

 

“Goddess— _IKE!_ You...put me down! _Now!_ ”

 

“Nope,” said Ike cheerfully, then secured Soren’s position over his shoulder with a steady grip on his thighs, feeling the lean yet firm muscles there twitch at the contact.

 

He strode triumphantly off the field like that with their teammates’ startled laughter following them and Soren’s flustered curses at his ear.

 

They had some things to talk about.

**Author's Note:**

> \- Carrying someone over your shoulder becomes something of a meme with the other Heroes after this, i.e., “Yeah, and then I Ike’d him right outta there!”
> 
> \- On the subject of Reinhardt shoving Ike through the bushes, I like to imagine that Ike was like, “Reinhardt, I need you to give me a boost through there so I can wreck Niles _right this very instant_ , trust me, this is the ONLY WAY for us to proceed” and Reinhardt didn’t even bother replying, he was just glad for a chance to vent his frustration with all the nonsense he was being forced to put up with so he immediately planted his boot in Ike’s back and gave him a nice hard kick. Either that or he just straight-up rammed his horse into him; god only knows how Smite and Shove work with horseback units.


End file.
